Lowe's Build and Grow

On Saturday morning we took the boys to Lowe's for the Build and Grow workshop.  The kids got to build a very cool monster truck.  Lately a lot of the builds have been sponsored by movies but this time it was Monster Jam.

Rylan did awesome with the first two nails and then this is how interested he was ...

Brian's parents have gotten the boys some monster trucks before so now we have 4 Grave Diggers.

In a couple of weeks, the build is the Monster Mutt truck.  We'll have soccer games by then on Saturdays so hopefully it doesn't overlap!

Making a House

We've been really busy and barely home this week so yesterday afternoon I tried to put a movie on for the boys so I could clean up the house a bit and vacuum.  That lasted about 15 minutes and then the boys ended up upstairs with me in their clean rooms.  They like to go in Rylan's room lately and close the door.  There was no screaming and no one came to get me to complain about the other one so I let them be.  I checked on them after about 10 minutes and this is what the room looked like.

According to Carter, this is their house.

In all the craziness and mess, Carter still managed to be a little OCD and organize the green balls in his room!

Parent-Teacher Conference

Yesterday I had my first parent-teacher conference with Carter's preschool teacher.  Talking with a few of the other parents, they were nervous about what Ms. Anne might tell them.  I wasn't worried - I talk to Ms. Anne a lot at pick up and she is always saying how much she loves Carter.

And that was totally reflected in our conference.

I had signed up for the second conference of the morning.  The mom before took up every minute of her 20 but Ms. Anne and I were done in 5 minutes.  Carter is perfect! :)  Actually, he's not, but Ms. Anne only had positive things to say and I am so proud of him!

Ms. Anne filled out this evaluation form (5 is always, 3 is sometimes, and 1 is never) ...

Social and Emotional Development
Plays well with others: 5
Shares with friends: 5
Is not easily distracted: 5
Is responsible for belongings: 5
Knows and follows classroom rules: 5
Follows directions: 5
Puts on coat without help: 5
Goes to bathroom without help: 5

Fine and Gross Motor
Holds pencil correctly: 5
Writes name correctly (see attached)
Uses scissors with ease (see attached)
Can draw a person with 2-4 parts (see attached)

Math
Counts objects 1-10: 5
Matches the number to the set 1-10: 5
Identifies shapes (see attached)

Literacy
Recognizes first name: 4
Identifies uppercase alphabet (see attached)
Identifies lowercase alphabet (see attached)

Ms. Anne said Carter got the 4 on recognizing his name because there is also a Cooper and Campbell in his class and all the boys are always in a hurry and grab each other's things because they see the C and don't look at the rest of the name.

Not to brag, but I know Ms. Anne doesn't give out all 5s.  The mom that had the first conference watched Rylan for me and she was showing me her son's evaluation.  He had mostly 3s and some 4s.  And he's a good kid.  I really am proud of how well Carter does at school.

Here are pictures of the attached items mentioned above.

So Carter recognizes all his colors, shapes, capital letters, numbers, and all but 10 little letters (we just started working on that at home).

On this page, Carter had to draw a picture of himself.  Ms. Anne was especially impressed by the fact he drew pupils (and I am too)!  She said a lot of kids are still doing just heads with long legs (and no body).  Carter used to do this (I didn't know most kids also do that) but here he has a body with clothes and legs and toes (it's hard to see because it's drawn with a pencil).

Carter also wrote his name on the bottom but it got covered up with his self portrait.

And here are Carter's impressive scissor skills.

I didn't know he was this good!  Ms. Anne said it was because we do so many crafts at home.  So even though it's a pain to pull it all out sometimes (and clean it up), it's worth it!

Overall, I'm very, very proud of Carter.

Chick-fil-A Family Night

Tuesday night after Quinn's party (because I'm crazy), I took the kids to Chick-fil-A for Family Night.  We go to Chick-fil-A every once in awhile, but never seem to go on Tuesdays (which is Family Night).  The Cool Springs Chick-fil-A was having a special Family Night that included Sean the Balloon Guy and a face painter.

I figured the boys would be hungry since they only got one tiny piece of pizza at the party and both only ate a little of their cupcakes.  But, of course, they wouldn't eat their kid's meal (at least it was free).

Carter was super excited to see the cow.  He even sat down at our table.  And then just sat there for like 2 minutes - it was a little awkward.  Rylan was a little intimidated - he would look at him but then turned away whenever there was any attention towards him.

The kids got free ice cream too.  The boys FINALLY like ice cream.  Though they both only eat about 10 little bites and then are done.  Rylan wouldn't even touch it this night.

We waited forever for Sean the Balloon Guy to make it to our table.  But he finally did and all the boys wanted were swords.  He made ninjas, sea turtles, and all sorts of amazing things for other kids but I couldn't convince Carter and Rylan that they wanted anything more complicated than swords.  Oh well.  they are still cool and haven't broken yet!

Sleepy Rylan

I feel like I'm always posting pictures of Rylan passed out on the hardwood floor.  This one is funny because he has a tape measurer in his back pocket and a hammer and goggles by his feet.

Funny Face

Playing with the things in the goodie bag from last night's birthday party ...

Quinn's Birthday Party

As usual for lately, I'm behind on posting.  But I'll go ahead and do a quick post about the birthday party we went to tonight.  

Quinn is in Carter's preschool class and had her 4th birthday party at Inside Out tonight.  Her parents were nice enough to include siblings so both boys got to go to the party.  This was the first time we've been to Inside Out.  I've heard mixed opinions from friends.  It's more expensive than the other indoor playgrounds and, to me, it was just a playground inside (it was really just playground equipment indoors).

But that doesn't mean that all the kids didn't have a blast!

Quinn is the sweetest (and cutest) little girl.  She naps next to Carter at school.  Her mom was telling me that everyday she tells her family (she is the youngest of 5 kids) that she's either going to marry Carter or Campbell.  I'm good with that! :)

The birthday girl:

Date Night (w/ the Kids)

To celebrate Brian changing jobs, we went out last night to McCreary's Irish Pub in downtown Franklin and then to Sweet CeCe's for dessert.  I had Groupons for both :)

Carter is always a goofball for the camera lately (I almost caught him before he started crossing his eyes).

Rylan liked that I could use the other camera and we could see ourselves while taking our picture.

Carter played with the camera on my phone for awhile when the kids started getting a little restless (it was happy hour when we arrived which meant 2 for 1 pints so it took us a little longer to finish up).

This is Rylan's typical expression nowadays.  He has been really moody!

 Sweet CeCe's was packed when we got there so we had to eat our yogurt outside (bbbrrrrr!!!) but it was still yummy!  We've never been there before so we got some really basic yogurt and toppings but there are a lot of fun options that we'll have to try next time!

Today

Today was a busy day for the boys and me!

We started off the morning by going to the downtown library and seeing the puppet show "Anansi the Spider".  This is an old story about a trickster spider and it originated in West Africa.

The play starts off in the States with a grandfather telling the story to his grandkids.

The rest takes place in Africa and includes a spider, bird, lion, hornet, and snake.

It was a pretty good play.  The kids liked the animal puppets and were engaged the whole show.

Afterwards we dropped off Carter's Lego creation for the Lego contest going on this weekend at the library.  I'll post more about that after the contest concludes this weekend.

Next we met Missy and her boys at Cheekwood.  It got up to around 60F today but was pretty muddy from the rain last night.  We managed to not get completely filthy.

We attempted a couple of group photos.  It's almost impossible to get a good photo of a 4, 3, 2, and 1 year old at the same time!

I like these of Carter though!

We spent about an hour and a half running around and trying to get the boys to sit long enough to eat their lunches (we never really succeeded at that!).

I decided it was warm enough to take the boys for a run outside so we stopped by the greenway out of River Park.  Rylan had fallen asleep on the way there and stayed asleep the entire 6 miles of my run.  Carter, on the other hand, devoured his sandwich and an (almost) entire sleeve of graham crackers.

We had to stop at the playground at River Park after my run.  Rylan woke up about 2 minutes after I stopped running.  Instead of playing in the playground though, the boys spent most of their time throwing sticks into the Little Harpeth River (and getting even muddier).

When we left, we went straight to the bathroom for a bubble bath.

After cleaning up, Carter put together the Lego kit he got from entering the Lego contest.  If you win your age bracket, you get a gift card to the Lego Store.  Carter knows this and when he opened up the bag to find the Lego kit, he said, "Mommy, I won!!!".  It was too cute!  He also thanked me at least 5 times after leaving the library for letting him do the contest so he could get this Lego kit.

We are still on a "hockey-high" around here since going to the game last week so getting the Lego hockey guy was awesome for Carter!

Next we worked on making congratulations signs for Brian.  Today is his last day at his current job.  He is starting back with a company he used to work for in Knoxville but will be working remotely from home.  He's going to be the director of a new service the company is adding and we are both really excited about it!

I let the kids dictate 100% what their signs said.  Carter's says: "Yay, Daddy!  You did all your work!  You get to work at home after you go to one more town!  I love you!  Carter" (Brian has to work in Knoxville a little when he first starts the new job.)

Rylan's says: "Go, Daddy! Go, Daddy! Go, Daddy!"

Only another hour until bedtime!  I have nothing else planned (other than chilling out while watching a cartoon and playing with some Duplo Legos).

Obstacle Course

I made an obstacle course for the boys the other day in the bonus room.  I had told Carter the night before we'd make one the next day and the first thing he said to me when he got up (early) that morning was, "We're going to do an obstacle course!".

I wasn't being overly creative, but Carter had fun.  Here's a video of him completing the course (I cut it into 2 parts since it's a little long).

Rylan didn't seem to get that you were supposed to complete the course as quickly as possible.  But he still finished it and seemed to have fun (he got really frustrated with hanging the kangaroos from the blinds but managed to complete the challenge eventually).  I stopped recording Rylan after a bit because it would have been painful to watch :)

The Hawaiian

I have never made pizza before (only the premade frozen ones you pop in the oven and reheat).  I don't know why it's taken me so long to try to make my own, but it has.  For the last few months, I've been really good about really cooking (even if it is just for Brian and me since the kids usually won't touch our food - they usually eat earlier anyways since Brian gets home so late).  I try to use all fresh ingredients - no frozen meals or things from a box.  The kids and I have found a little bit of a compromise as I will let them watch some cartoons and they will let me cook (kind of).

Anyway, we went to Brixx after my half-marathon and consumed 2 pizzas (I was REALLY hungry) - the Hawaiian and 4x4.  Every since, I've been craving that Hawaiian!  We LOVE Brixx.  They have awesome pizzas and great specials (half price appetizers and pints (even high gravities) for $3 before 6 pm).  And I can usually score a buy one, get one pizza free coupon.  And the kids love the hummus and pita chips appetizer (it fills them up).

So here was my attempt at copying the Hawaiian (prosciutto, pineapple, mozzarella, and cilantro).

It wasn't exactly the same or quite as yummy, but almost!

Gymnastics Update

Waiting for class to start ...

Rylan is doing well at gymnastics.  Because it's a new class, the participants have changed a little as people do their trial class and decide if they want to continue with the class.  So far Rylan is always the oldest (by a lot right now - a year older than the 3 kids that did the class this week with us).  But because it's a small class, he gets plenty of attention from the coach and gets to try harder skills.

The class consists of a warm-up and stretch, 2 sets of skills (sort of like an obstacle course that the kids repeat a few times), and then some free time in the foam pit and at the end, on the trampolines.

Rylan is a bit stubborn and it's sometimes hard to get him to do all the skills in each series (sometimes he likes to roll on his side down the decline mat instead of doing a somersault).  But generally he'll do everything and is pretty good at it.  Poor thing landed on his nose though this week when walking up a wall with his feet and balancing on his hands (his elbows unlocked and he landed on his face - there was some crying and a little bruise on his nose).

Rylan is super excited about going each week and I'm glad he's getting to do it (especially since Carter has soccer and baseball in another month).  Carter is really jealous about gymnastics though and I may try to get him back into it either this summer or next fall.  We'll see though!

Spiderman

This is what happens when Target has 90% off their Valentine's stuff.

The shirts cost $0.90 each.

(Carter is also wearing his matching Spiderman underwear for Valentine's Day from GG and Papa Art.)

CPR Class

The Franklin Fire Department has been offering a free non-credit CPR class on Sundays this month in honor of American Heart Month.  The last time I took a CPR class was exactly one month before Carter was born so I figured it was about time to get a refresher.  Plus the class was free - can't argue with that!  I got Missy and Suzy to take the class with me Sunday afternoon so we can now all save each other's kids if we have to :)

The class was three hours and covered adult hands-only CPR, child CPR with breaths, adult and child AED use, infant CPR, and relief of choking in an adult, child, and infant.  The class was the level one, "Family and Friends" class (you get certified like Brian and I did last time in the level two class).
The class was held at the Franklin Police Headquarters.  I'm not sure when the building opened but it's super nice and just outside of the city center.

A Franklin firefighter that teaches CPR to doctors at Vanderbilt several times a week taught the class.  A video from AHA went over everything and then he helped us with our dummies and answered questions.  It was a good class and I'm sure I'll take it again in a couple of years if they offer it again!

Vanderbilt Basketball

We took the boys to a Vanderbilt basketball game on Saturday night.  We went to a football game a year ago but this was our first time going to a Vandy basketball game.

Again, I bought tickets on Stubhub.  The tickets have a face value of $29 each, but I bought them for $4 each plus service fees/shipping ($33 total).  And the seats ended up being perfect.  They were in the upper section, but the arena is small so no seats are really that bad.  And we were on the end of a row and right about the entrance to the section so no one was sitting in front of us.

I had gotten Vanderbilt short sleeve shirts from Old Navy on clearance awhile ago and luckily remembered we had them (and they still fit - the kids didn't wear them much this summer because black is not great when it's 90F outside!).  I put a long sleeve underneath and you get these matching cuties!!!

Parking was free in a lot only a couple of blocks away and it was an easy (but cold) walk to the arena.

The majority of the seats are benches (which was fine with us - the boys actually never wanted to sit in our laps then!).

Before the game started, the boys had a blast crawling all over the benches.  There were only a few people around us (I was surprised by how empty the entire place was).  Carter was still doing some Conductor Jack thumbs-up :)

We saw Hannah and Dowden with their dad (Chip) sitting in the second row (you can see Hannah with the red hair and white bow in the middle of this picture and Dowden is in front of her in the yellow shirt).  Chip played baseball at Vandy and his dad played both basketball and baseball so they get great free season tickets to lots of sports.

We got some popcorn for us all to share but someone was a bit possessive!

Our view ...

The boys had fun dancing ...

We all had a good time!

I wasn't kidding when I said it was empty.  This is the sideline with the majority of the second half left ...

This is the student area!

The lack of a crowd made it easier for us with the boys so I'm not complaining!  Yesterday Carter told me, "Thank you so much for taking me to the basketball game.  It was so much fun."  I'm so glad we take these guys with us to all these things instead of leaving them home with a babysitter!